GORHAM, Maine – Securing the No. 4 seed the University of Southern Maine Huskies are preparing to compete at the 2022 Little East Conference Baseball Tournament Championship May 11-14. Hosted by No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors, the 2022 LEC Regular Season Champions, the top six teams in the final regular season standing qualify for the double-elimination championship tournament.
The 2022 Little East Conference Champion will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, beginning with Regional Championships starting May 20. Sixty teams will be selected for the championship field. The NCAA will host an online selection show on May 16 (12:00 pm EST) announcing participating teams and regional sites.
THE BASICS
When: Wednesday, May 11 – Saturday, May 14, 2022
Where: Mansfield Sports Complex (Mansfield, Conn.) – Eastern Connecticut State University
Participating Teams: Eastern Connecticut State University, Plymouth State University, Rhode Island College, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth and University of Southern Maine
The History:
The Huskies' are the defending 2021 tournament champions. Southern Maine entered the 2021 tourney as the two seed and posted a 4-1 record, defeating No. 1 seed and regular season champion Eastern Connecticut 7-6 in the final game of the tourney.
Southern Maine has won the LEC tournament championship six times (1997, 1999, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2021) and has finished as the tournament runner-up seven times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014). The tournament championship was first sponsored by the Little East Conference in 1997.
In 25 appearances in the Little East Conference Tournament Championship (1997-2021*), Southern Maine has played in 98 games and has a record of 61-37 (.622 winning percentage).
2022 Little East Conference Tournament Seeds:
- Eastern Connecticut 32-3 (15-1 LEC)
- Rhode Island College 28-8-1 (13-3 LEC)
- UMass Boston 24-14 (11-5 LEC)
- Southern Maine 21-17 (10-6 LEC)
- UMass Dartmouth 15-21-1 (6-10 LEC)
- Plymouth State 14-24 (5-11 LEC)
About the 2022 Huskies
The Huskies are 23-17 overall and 10-6 in the Little East Conference. Southern Maine has won 10 of its last 11 games. The Huskies six in-conference losses are to Eastern Connecticut (0-2), Rhode Island College (1-1) UMass Dartmouth (1-1), Castleton (1-1) and UMass Boston (1-1).
As a team, USM is hitting .274 and are led by junior DH
Arlo Pike (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle), senior C
Jason Komulainen (Gorham, Maine) and junior OF
Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vermont). Pike is hitting a team-best .351 (47-for-134) with 25 runs scored and a team-leading 34 RBI. Pike has 11 doubles and seven home runs in 38 games. Komulainen is hitting .344 (52-for-151) with 12 doubles and three home runs. Playing and starting in all 40 games, Komulanien has 31 RBI. He has hit safely in the last six games. Vesosky, another 40 game starter, is hitting .331 with a team-leading 54 hits in 163 at-bats, and has a team-leading 36 runs scored. Second on the team in RBI, Vesosky has driven in 33 runs, and has a team-high 10 stolen bases.
Seniors Josh Joy (Smithfield, Maine/Messalonskee) and
James Sinclair (Portland, Maine/Deering) and sophomore
Bryce Afthim (Windham, Maine) lead the Huskies' pitching core. Throwing a team-high 59.2 innings pitched, Joy has 10 appearances and two complete games. Earning a pair of shut out wins during the season, Joy threw the Huskies' first nine-inning no-hitter against Keene State (April 30, 2022). Joy leads the Huskies' staff with 64 strikeouts.
Sinclair has pitched 57.2 innings for the Huskies with one complete game. With a record of 3-0 against conference opponents, Sinclair has 49 strikeouts to his credit. Afthim is 4-2 overall with 55.0 inning pitched and a 2.33 earned run average. The Huskies have also received solid innings from sophomore reliever
Lucas Francis (Lisbon, Maine). In 20 appearances, Francis is 2-0 with one save and a 2.52 earned run average in 39.1 innings.
During the season, Southern Maine split with the Corsairs dropping a game 8-0 and winning the second 2-1. Snyder led USM to the win pitching eight innings, while Leidemann-Smith and Nelson each had RBI in the top of the eighth. USM swept Plymouth State 7-2 and 10-2. Leidemann-Smith was 5-for-8 over those two games for seven RBI, while Nelson was 6-for-8 with six runs scored.
About No. 3 UMass Boston
UMass Boston (24-14, 11-5 LEC) is hitting .297 as a team overall and is lead by Luke Leavitt's .407 average. Leavitt is 35-for-86 at the plate with 21 RBI. Steve Brookwell, Drew Metzdorf and Aidan Blake are hitting .364, .327 and .326 for UMB, while Metzdorf leads his team with 36 RBI. On the mound, the Beacons' Alex Almalfi leads the way with a 3.86 ERA. Almalfi is third in the LEC in strikeouts with 83.
USM split the regular season match up with UMB, going 1-1. The Huskies fell 13-3 (8 inning) in the opener and won 5-4 in game two. Sinclair earned the win on the mound for the Huskies, while sophomore
Cam Seymour (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) had a three-inning save and a home run.
Game times will be Noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Game 1: No. 1 Eastern Connecticut vs. No. 6 Plymouth State
Game 2: Team No. 2 Rhode Island College vs. No. 5 UMass Dartmouth
Game 3: Team No. 3 UMass Boston vs. No. 4 Southern Maine
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser 2
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
If four teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
Friday, May 13, 2022
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as in Game 10
If five teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
Friday, May 13, 2022
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6 Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7
If two teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as Game 10
If three teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10
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